noun: `Father' is a term of address for priests in some churches (especially the Roman Catholic Church or the Orthodox Catholic Church); `Padre' is frequently used in the military

noun: a person who holds an important or distinguished position in some organization

Example: "The tennis fathers ruled in her favor"

noun: the head of an organized crime family

noun: the founder of a family

Example: "Keep the faith of our forefathers"

noun: (Christianity) any of about 70 theologians in the period from the 2nd to the 7th century whose writing established and confirmed official church doctrine; in the Roman Catholic Church some were later declared saints and became Doctor of the Church; the best known Lation Church Fathers are Ambrose, Augustine, Gregory the Great, and Jerome; those who wrote in Greek include Athanasius, Basil, Gregory Nazianzen, and John Chrysostom